Somewhere Else (The Good Place)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Somewhere Else" is the thirteenth and
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
episode of the second season of the American
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
-
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
television series ''
The Good Place ''The Good Place'' is an American fantasy-comedy television series created by Michael Schur for NBC. The series premiered on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January 30, 2020, after four seasons consisting of 53 episodes. Although the pl ...
''. The twenty-sixth episode of the series overall, the episode originally aired in the United States on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
on February 1, 2018, and was written and directed by series creator
Michael Schur Michael Herbert Schur (born October 29, 1975) is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor. He started his career as a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' (1998–2004) before gaining acclaim as a writer and producer of the si ...
. "Somewhere Else" sees the four humans returned to Earth with no memories of the afterlife; Michael and Janet monitor their self-improvement over time. The episode focuses on Eleanor after her
near-death experience A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death, which researchers describe as having similar characteristics. When positive, which the great majority are, such experiences may encompa ...
as she seeks to treat others better. As time passes, her enthusiasm for her moral behavior fades; however, a secret visit from Michael leads her to a speech from Chidi, and she finds herself motivated again. In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by 3.19 million viewers and received critical acclaim. While several critics noted its relative lack of humor, many praised its themes and message, as well as how ''The Good Place'' reinvented itself going into its third season. Retrospective reviews of the episode have remained positive, and it is often ranked as one of the show's best episodes.


Plot

After arriving from the Bad Place, Michael (
Ted Danson Edward Bridge Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993), for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe A ...
) explains to Judge Gen (
Maya Rudolph Maya Khabira Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress and comedian. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). During her tenure on the show, she appeared in supporting roles in ...
) that the four humans have shown self-improvement in the afterlife. He argues this shows the points system tracking people's behavior on Earth is corrupt. While Michael and Gen discuss a solution privately, Janet (
D'Arcy Carden D'Arcy Beth Carden (born Darcy Beth Erokan; January 4, 1980) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for portraying Janet in the NBC sitcom ''The Good Place'' (2016–2020), for which she earned a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Aw ...
) confesses her feelings for Jason (
Manny Jacinto Manuel Luis Jacinto ( ; born August 19, 1987) is a Filipino-Canadian actor. After several small roles on television, his breakout role came as Jason Mendoza on the NBC sitcom '' The Good Place'' (2016–2020). Jacinto had minor roles in '' Bad ...
), inspiring Chidi (
William Jackson Harper William Fitzgerald Harper (born February 8, 1980), known professionally as William Jackson Harper, is an American actor and playwright. He gained acclaim for his role as Chidi Anagonye in the NBC comedy series ''The Good Place'' (2016–2020), f ...
) to kiss Eleanor (
Kristen Bell Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. List of Kristen Bell performances, Her work includes both film and television, and List of awards and nominations received by Kristen Bell, h ...
). Michael and Gen return with a new proposal: the four humans will be placed in separate Medium Places while they work on a solution for up to a million years. Eleanor argues this would be unfair, but Gen remains convinced the humans only improved because they expected a reward. Michael believes the humans would have improved if given a push in the right direction, which gives him a new idea; Gen reluctantly agrees and resets the humans' memories. Eleanor returns to Earth right before her death, but she is saved by an unseen person. Her brush with death inspires her to become a better person. She quits her shady pharmaceutical job, joins an environmental group, and seeks to behave more ethically throughout her life. For a time, Eleanor seems to be thriving, but becomes increasingly unhappy after confessing some previous bad deeds to her roommate, who promptly evicts her. She becomes frustrated with other people's apathy toward the environmental group and begins to lose interest in her job, finally choosing to quit so she can go to a concert with a friend instead of working. Eleanor embraces her old lifestyle. Michael and Janet, monitoring Eleanor from the afterlife, recognize that she will likely never change without Chidi's influence, but Gen forbids them from interfering. Michael sneaks to Earth and poses as a bartender for Eleanor. She complains about the difficulties of being ethical; he encourages her to listen to her conscience and asks her " what do we owe to each other?" Eleanor searches the question online and finds a lecture by Chidi. The lecture resonates with her, and she flies to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
to meet Chidi in person, pleasing Michael.


Production

In an interview with ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'', series creator
Michael Schur Michael Herbert Schur (born October 29, 1975) is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor. He started his career as a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' (1998–2004) before gaining acclaim as a writer and producer of the si ...
stated that the decision to return the four humans to Earth was due to their progress in the afterlife being "theoretical". As he explained, "It seemed like a natural move to send them back to a time before they made that progress, and to use the idea of nearly dying to test their ability to improve." Michael's scene as a bartender drew attention from several critics as a nod to Ted Danson's role as
Sam Malone Samuel "Mayday" Malone is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American television show ''Cheers'', portrayed by Ted Danson and created by Glen and Les Charles. Sam is a former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox baseball team wh ...
on ''
Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...
''. Danson agreed to the idea when Schur ran it past him, and Schur specifically wrote for Danson to be cutting limes and have a towel on his shoulder in the scene. Later in the episode, Chidi appears to give a speech in English; while his character originally spoke French in the real world and a version was recorded with William Jackson Harper using an accent, Schur opted to stick with Harper's normal voice to prevent confusion.


Reception


Ratings

In its original broadcast on February 1, 2018, "Somewhere Else" was seen by 3.19 million American viewers and received a 1.1
rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of a metric (e.g. quality, quantity, a combination of both,...). Rating or rating system may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness ...
among adults ages 18–49. The episode placed fourth in its timeslot among network broadcasts, behind ''
Young Sheldon ''Young Sheldon'' is an American sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro which aired on CBS from September 25, 2017, to May 16, 2024. The series is a Spin-off (media), spin-off prequel to ''The Big Bang Theory'' that ...
'', ''
Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...
'', and '' The Four: Battle for Stardom''. After factoring in seven-day DVR viewership, the episode was seen by 4.95 million viewers and achieved a 1.9 rating in the 18–49 demographic.


Reviews

"Somewhere Else" received widespread acclaim from critics. '' Vanity Fair''s Laura Bradley praised the episode's optimistic message and character growth. She remarked that the episode was the opposite of the first-season finale's major twist, but added that it was "just as satisfying as the first – if not more so". Darren Franich of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' similarly complimented the twist and said, "It's cynical and hopeful, an attempt to reimagine all the great philosophies as a sitcom".
Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...
and Kelly Lawler each noted in their reviews for ''
Uproxx Uproxx Studios (stylized as ''UPROXX'') is an American music, entertainment and popular culture website and content studio. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater. The website was acquired in 2014 by Woven Digital (which later ...
'' and ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'', respectively, that the episode was not interested in humor but felt emotionally satisfying as it laid a new foundation for the show. Sepinwall also expressed concerns about how the show would handle the twist, but he had "long since learned to trust what Schur and company are up to with this series". '' GQ''s Scott Meslow was similarly confident in ''The Good Place''s ability to reinvent itself as its high-concept premise became a "very human story about why it’s important to care about people". Analyzing the episode for '' Vox'', Caroline Framke considered two scenarios to explain the plot – that the humans had returned to Earth or that they were in another simulation – but found that either could make sense, which she found exciting. Steve Greene of '' IndieWire'' found that the finale reinforced the show's theme of faith and of doing good things with no guarantee of later recognition. Several critics drew comparisons between the episode and the final season of '' Lost'', which also placed its characters in an alternate timeline and followed their self-improvement; ''Lost'' co-creator
Damon Lindelof Damon Laurence Lindelof (born April 24, 1973) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine named ...
had advised Schur when ''The Good Place'' was being developed, and ''IndieWire'' pointed out an
Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...
for Lindelof in the episode. Other comparisons included '' Enlightened'', '' The Leftovers'', and the final season of ''
The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...
''. In retrospective discussions, "Somewhere Else" has often been placed among the show's best episodes. In his review of the series finale, " Whenever You're Ready", Franich pointed to "Somewhere Else" as "the all-time best ''Good Place'' episode" as it "plumbed a deep well of human frailty"; he found that the show drifted too far into escapism after this episode. In another review for ''
The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...
'', Joshua Rivera also described the episode as "the apex of ''The Good Place''s storytelling prowess". A ranking of the show's episodes before the series finale by '' The Ringer'' placed "Somewhere Else" twelfth, complimenting the "incredibly smart writing", the philosophy discussed, and the show's reconfiguration within the episode. ''
Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...
'' named "Somewhere Else" as one of the best television episodes of 2018, with Alec Bojalad calling it "equal parts twisty storytelling and emotional fulfillment".


References


External links


"Somewhere Else"
at
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
.com *
"Ch. 26"
of ''The Good Place: The Podcast'' {{The Good Place 2018 American television episodes The Good Place episodes Television episodes written by Michael Schur